I can relate to your post, Marian. When I was substitute teaching I hated to go a certain school in the inner city (well, as inner city as we get around here). Parking was a pain in the a$$, and there was nothing but concrete around - no playyard with grass. There was a blacktop basketball court and a jungle gym. The houses and businesses were kind of dumpy too. But the school I was at all last year and will be next year is on the edge of town. We have our own parking lot (no more fighting the rest of town for spots on the street) and we have deer, red-tailed hawks, box turtles, rabbits, squirrels, etc. We have a large playing field and a nice mulched playground, a courtyard, and a nature trail. I love it. And apparently a lot of our city does too, because we have a lot of kids come from out of district.
